Story #3 for Julie Fox: Battle on the Egg Carrier
by Julie Xane Indi
Summary: Story 3 of my fan fic series for my fox char, Julie Fox..Sonic and the gang are captured by Robotnik on the Egg Carrier..can they escape with the help of fellow captive feline Tony Cat? Find out!
1. Default Chapter

The Beginning: Angel Island Part 1of the Julie Series  
  
#3- Battle on the Egg Carrier  
  
  
  
Sonic and friends scampered down the hall until they came to a door.  
  
"There's robots on the other side of that door." Tony warned as they stopped.  
  
"How many?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Two or three. How're we gonna beat 'em up as squirrels though?"  
  
"Easy," Julie said, "I'll smash 'em together and they'll blow up."  
  
"Okay, good plan, but how do we open the door?" Tails wondered, looking around.  
  
"Um...I don't know..." Sonic scratched his head.  
  
"There should be a switch around here somewhere." Tony told them.  
  
"Do you know this place inside out or what?" Julie glanced at Tony.  
  
"No, just this part 'cause this is where they took me after they captured me."  
  
"Oh..."  
  
"Hey, look!" Julie was interrupted by Tails, who was pointing up. Julie looked up and saw a green switch next to the door.  
  
"Oh, I see. But how are we gonna pull it?" Sonic asked. This puzzled Julie. She didn't want to morph out, and the switch was too high for her to reach with her powers.Suddenly she got an idea.  
  
"Tony, how strong are you?"  
  
"Huh? Oh..um...I'm what you would call..macho squirrel!" He flexed his little squirrel's muscles.  
  
Julie giggled. "Okay, here's the plan," she said, getting serious, "Tony, you stand over there by the wall." Tony nodded and scampered over to the wall. "Okay. Here's what we're gonna do. Sonic's gonna climb on top of Tony. Then I'll go, on topa Sonic, and Tails on topa me. Tails should be able to reach the switch and pull it down."  
  
"Oh, I get it now!" Sonic said, "We're gonna build a pyramid- thingamajigger!''  
  
Julie laughed. "If that's what you wanna call it." Sonic ran over to Tony and climbed on top of his shoulders. Julie went next, followed by Tails. "Okay Tails! Pull!" Tails reached up and stretched to barely grab onto the switch. Tails started to pull down, but couldn't pull hard enough.  
  
"I'm....slipping..." Sonic said, straining to keep his balance. All of a sudden Sonic lost his grip and Tony, Sonic, and Julie fell to the floor. Tails was dangling on the switch and with his weight, the switch clanked down and the door slid open.  
  
"Alright!" Tails said as he let go of the switch and dropped to the floor next to Sonic. Julie, Tony, and Sonic got up, dusting off.  
  
"That was a wild ride!" Tony said.  
  
"Yeah! Tell me about it!" Sonic said, with a hint of humor.  
  
"Right, but we need ta keep goin'. Let's get off this crummy ship!" Julie scrambled over to the door entryway, followed by the rest. She stopped at the corner and peeked around.There were two robots standing guard. One was yellow and the other was blue. The yellow one had the numbers E-104, and the blue E-101. Julie focused and her eyes began to glow yellow. The robots were lifted off the ground, buzzing and clicking.  
  
"What..bzzz..is happening...bzz?" The yellow robot said as they were seperated, then suddenly slammed into each other. Chunks of electrical wire and twisted metal fell to the ground, shooting sparks. Julie stopped and her eyes quickly faded back to their normal red color. Julie turned back to her comrades.  
  
"Okay, guys. I took care of the robots."  
  
"That wasn't too hard!" Tony joked.  
  
Julie smiled. "Hold on, I'll check where we're s'posed ta go." Julie closed her eyes. The corridor they were on popped into her mind. On down the hallway was a set of stairs going up to the deck. Julie opened her eyes and the image disappeared. "We've gotta go this way," she pointed to the left, "and there's some stairs we can take up to the deck."  
  
"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Sonic jumped to the and took off to his left.  
  
"Wait up!" Tails called as he dashed around the corner too.  
  
"Boys..." Julie rolled her eyes.  
  
"Hey!" Tony said, looking at her. Julie just smiled and ran off after Sonic and Tails.  
  
Not all boys are like that..Julie thought as she ran, especially not Knuckles..at least he waits on me..I wonder what he's doing...  
  
Sonic and Tails came to a stop in front of the staircase and a few seconds later, Julie and Tony stopped as well. They all looked up and saw storm cloud moving and rain flying by.  
  
"Oh, great! It just had to be raining, didn't it?" Tony moaned.  
  
"That means it'll be easier for us to escape." Sonic scampered up the stairs.  
  
"I don't really favor rain either.." Julie ran up the stairs. Luckily for her, her hair sheilded most of the rain from her eyes. "You guys wanna morph back?"  
  
"Sure, I don't think we'll be able to get off the Egg Carrier like this." Sonic said.  
  
"Of course you can!"  
  
"Eggman!" Tails turned around and looked up. Julie turned around too, and before them was Robotnik's huge vehicle(remember, they're squirrels).  
  
"Whoa.."Tony said, "that thing's huge!"  
  
"It's just 'cause we're small." Sonic said, hopping up to face Robotnik.  
  
"Ha! You think you can beat me like that?" Robotnik pushed a button inside his ship and grabbed Sonic.  
  
"Whoa!" Sonic said as he was lifted up.  
  
"Sonic!" Tails reached for him, but only grabbed air.  
  
"Tony, Tails, take my hand and concentrate on your normal form!" Julie said as she held out both hands.  
  
"Okay.." Tony said cautiously as he took Julie's hand. Tails held Julie's other hand.  
  
"Hey! What about me?!" Sonic yelled, trying to wiggle free of the mechanical arm's grasp.  
  
"Don't worry 'bout it Sonic!" Julie closed her eyes and thought about her, Tails, and Tony in their regular forms. As Sonic and Robotnik looked on, the group began to glow white. Tony's bushy tail lost most of its fur and went back to its normal cat size. Julie and Tails' tails weren't as bushy and were fox tails again. Their little squirrel paws turned back into cat and fox hands, and their arms and legs grew longer. When they reached their their normal sizes, the glowing stopped.  
  
Oh no..not this again...Robotnik thought. "You can't stop me now!" He said, pulling the claw up so they could all see Sonic, "I've got your star player!"  
  
"Not for long!" Julie's eyes began to glow again and a Robotnik was frozen in place.  
  
"No! Not again!" Robotnik said, unable to move.  
  
"Tony, Tails, go grab Sonic and let's get out of here!" Tony and Tails ran up to Eggman's ship. Tony looked at Sonic.  
  
"Wow..I didn't realize how small we were.."  
  
"Just hurry and get me outta here Tony!" Sonic said. Tony grabbed the claw and tried to pull it apart, but it was wet from the rain, so Tony's fingers kept slipping. Tails looked at the ship and got an idea. He jumped up and grabbed the side of the ship.  
  
"What are you doing?!" Robotnik yelled, still frozen in place.  
  
"Aha!" Tails had found what he was looking for. A green button labelled 'Claw Release'. "Here Sonic!" Tails pushed the button. The claw shot open and Sonic fell out. Julie stopped him in midair and brought him over(with her powers). When the claw had opened, Tony had fallen backward and landed on his butt, but he quickly got up.  
  
"You're not going to get away with this!" Robotnik yelled as Tony ran back to the group. Julie had already began morphing Sonic out.  
  
That fox is causing problems...I still can't believe she survived five years in that desert after I destroyed her beloved city...Robotnik thought as he watched the transformation. I need to destroy her before she ruins everything..but now she can fully use her powers..unlike when she was eight..and now she's got Sonic on her side...this isn't good..  
  
"See ya later Eggman!" His thoughts were interrupted by Sonic.  
  
"See ya later?! Get back here and fight!" He called.  
  
"Oh yeah, I forgot. I've gotta turn him loose sometime." Julie said, smiling. She increased her focus a little and lifted her arm up to her chest. As she lifted her arm, Robotnik's ship went up. Then she acted like she was throwing something and Robotnik went flying off in that direction. Julie's eyes went back to normal as Robotnik crashed somewhere on the ship.  
  
"Come on, let's get off this hunka junk!" Tony said, looking at Sonic.  
  
"You said it! Let's go!" Sonic ran over to where the Tornado was. He hopped up on the rudder and Tails climbed into the cockpit.  
  
"Where'm I gonna go?" Tony asked.  
  
"In the second cockpit." Julie said, closing her eyes.  
  
"But you've gotta sit there!"  
  
"No, Tony, I'll fly." Julie argued as she began to glow.  
  
"Oh alright.." Tony sighed and climed in. Tails looked back and then cranked up the Tornado.  
  
"You're not going anywhere!" Robotnik yelled as he an up to them.  
  
"You wanna bet?" Sonic said, jumping down from the rudder. Julie opened her eyes and stopped glowing.  
  
"Of course! Get 'em Chaos!" By this time Tails and Tony had already climbed out of the Tornado.  
  
"Chaos? Who's Chaos?" Tony asked, looking around. "You'll find out soon enough Tony!" Sonic said as the watery blob crept up towards them. The water creature transformed up into Chaos. But this time instead of having one metal arm, he had two. His right arm's jewel was purple, while his left arm's was yellow.  
  
"You already know Chaos, but now he's Chaos2!" Robotnik sneered as he stepped back to let Chaos in control.  
  
"That's Chaos?" Tony stared at the jelly-like creature as it came closer and closer to them. "That thing looks like a giant jello mold!" When he said this, Chaos stopped in his tracks. He looked over at Tony with his crystal-like eyes and shot his left arm out toward him.  
  
"Tony! Look out!" Sonic yelled. Tony jumped aside just as Chaos' arm shot by.  
  
"Whoa! That was too close!" Tony sighed. Chaos withdrew his arm and started to melt into a gigantic ball.  
  
"What's he doing?" Tails wondered out loud. Then the ball of water suddenly burst into several kick-ball sized balls. The balls began to bounce rather quickly towards Tony. He jumped out of the way of most of them, but was hit by the last two. He was shot backward and rolled a few times, coming to a stop on his stomach.  
  
"Man! Why's this thing goin afta me?" He said as he got up. The watery balls turned around and started to bounce at Tony again. "I don't know why, but I'm fightin' back!" As Tony said this, claws popped out of his four-fingered paws. As Chaos got closer, Tony prepared to attack. The balls bounced up and Tony sliced though them. Tiny drops of water fell to the deck. Soon, all the balls were sliced through and the water drops joined together again, closer to Robotnik. Chaos turned his head and looked at Tony. Then, changing his mind, he turned to Sonic. He thrust his right arm toward Sonic. Right before it hit, Sonic jumped. But instead of jumping away, he jumped towards Chaos and used his homing attack. He hit Chaos on the head and Chaos roared.  
  
"Come on Chaos! Show 'em who's boss!" Robotnik yelled, trying to stengthen Chaos' spririts.  
  
"We'll show 'em who's who!" Sonic yelled as he hit Chaos on the head again. Chaos roared once more and melted into a giant ball.  
  
"Oh no you don't!" Julie closed her eyes and focused. Beneath the white glow, her pointed ears rounded out and her tail grew thinner and striped. Her arms and legs grew into powerful feline limbs. She grew fangs and sharp claws. When the glowing stopped, she was average size tiger. She still had her hairdo and the necklace.  
  
Chaos turned into a giant all again and began bouncing toward them. Julie roared and ran forward. When she got near to Chaos, she leaped and slashed into his gooey body. She was jerked to a stop in midair because her paw had gotten stuck inside Chaos. She landed on her other three paws and tried to free her stuck one. Chaos morphed into his normal form and turned his head to Julie. Julie looked up at him. They stared at each other for a minute until Chaos tried to slam his into Julie. But she was quick to react, freezing his hand in midair, inches from her face.  
  
"I don't think so!" Julie jumped, released Chaos from her grip, and pushed off of him with her hind legs. As she jumped back, her paw was freed and Chaos was sent into a wall. Julie did a backflip and landed on all fours.  
  
Chaos got up slowly and turned to Julie again.  
  
"You want more?" Julie's eyes turned yellow and she lifted Chaos off the ground. Then she jerked her head to the left, thus sending Chaos into another wall. Chaos roared again, slumped to the ground as a puddle, and crept slowly over to Robotnik.  
  
"Yes!" Sonic and Tails slapped each other high fives.  
  
"No! How could Chaos lose again?" Robotnik said in delusion.  
  
"Easy!" Sonic said, "He's fighting us!"  
  
"Well I've run out of ammo! Whatcha gonna do? I can't fight back!" Robotnik said.  
  
"We're going to leave! See ya!" Tails ran towards the Tornado and hopped in. "Come on guys!" He yelled as he put on his helmet and cranked up the plane. As Sonic and Tony headed for the Tornado, Julie morphed into a bird. When she finshed, she was a red-tailed hawk.  
  
"Alright, let's go!" Tails pushed the control stick forward and the plane began to roll down the runway. Julie flapped her wings and took to the air. When the Tornado had picked up enough speed, it lifted off the Egg Carrier. With Julie behind them, they headed towards Tails' workshop.  
  
While they were heading back, Knuckles was resting by the waterfall, leaning against a tree trunk. Sammie had already left, so Knuckles was by himself.  
  
"I wonder where Sonic and Julie are?" he wondered out loud as he stared up at the sky. The in the distance, he heard a soft hum. Knuckles sat up and continued looking at the sky. As he looked, a small red dot appeared. Knuckles squinted his eyes. The little red dot was the Tornado.  
  
"They're back!" Knuckles jumped to his feet and stretched. He started walking towards the workshop.  
  
Tails sighted his workshop and began to lose altitude. He put down the wheels and hit the runway. He pushed the brakes and the plane came to a stop. Tails took off his helmet and Julie flew by. She landed next to the Tornado and morphed out. Sonic jumped down off the rudder and Tony climbed out. When Tony got down, he couldn't stand straight. He walked around dizzily.  
  
"Whoa...never done that before...cats weren't meant ta fly!" He regained his balance as Knuckles appeared at the top of the steps.  
  
"Hey guys! I see you're back!" Everybody turned and looked at him.  
  
"Hey Knux! Whatcha been up to?" Tails said, climbing out of the cockpit.  
  
"Nothin' much. You?" He shifted legs, feeling uneasy around Julie.  
  
Sonic raised his left eyebrow. "Same old, same old. Fighting some funky monstera Eggman's, savin somebody, and just chillin'.  
  
"I'm guessin the cat's the one ya saved?" Knuckles said, gesturing towards Tony.  
  
"Yeah..and the name's Tony. And your names Knux?"  
  
"No, actually the name's Knuckles, Tony.." His voice had a hint of annoyance on the last word.  
  
"Oh..so your nickname's Knux?" Julie could tell they obviously didn't like each other.  
  
"Yeah, what's it to..."  
  
"So, you found any more Emerald pieces yet?" Julie interrupted Knuckles, knowing it was going to turn ugly.  
  
Knuckles relaxed a little and looked at her. "Yeah. I found two more." Julie nodded.  
  
"Sonic, why don't you take Tony back to Station Square? Me and Knuckles'll look for more emeralds." Sonic looked at her. Then he caught on to what she was trying to do.  
  
"Sure! Come on Tony, let's go." Sonic walked a little ways then turned and looked back. Tony glared at Knuckles and walked past Sonic.  
  
"I'm gonna stay and work on my new prototype." Tails said. He walked inside his workshop. Julie walked over to the steps and began to walk down. Knuckles watched her for a minutem then walked to the edge of the plateau and glided down. He landed at the bottom as Julie reached the last step.  
  
"Alright...so..where do we start?" Julie asked.  
  
"I dunno...wherever.." Knuckles said, glancing over to her. Julie looked at him.  
  
"We don't haveta look for any..I was just tryin ta get you and Tony away from each other."  
  
"Oh.." There was a pause, like neither one of them could think of anything to say.  
  
"So...you just...um...wanna walk around?" Knuckles studdered as he looked at Julie. There was another pause.  
  
Then Julie answered, "I guess..if you don't mind.." Knuckles silently sighed.  
  
Alright, he thought, maybe she does like me..just a little...or at least I hope so... Julie was thinking the same thing as they started walking down the second set of stairs and off towards the waterfall. As they passed the waterfall, Julie thought she saw something sparkle on one of the ledges that were beside the waterfall.  
  
I wonder what that was? Julie thought as her and Knuckles climbed into the mine cart to go into the jungle and explore.  
  
To be continued...  
  
Story [c] to Emily B./Julie F. 


	2. Chapter Four: Story of a Lifetime

The Beginning: Angel Island Part one of the Julie Series #4- Story of a Lifetime  
  
The mine cart came out of the tunnel and stopped on top a high cliff. Knuckles hopped out and opened the door to the cart. Julie came out and looked around. "Wow..." She said, admiring the jungle tree tops, made even more beautiful by the reflection of the sunset off the leaves. A little further off, near the edge of the island, was a huge, mythodical-looking temple. "Neat, iddn't it?" Knuckles walked up to stand beside her. "Yeah..I've never seen anything like it..." She looked around and then looked up at the sky. "Well..I take it back.." she sat down on the edge of the cliff next to the ladder, her legs dangling. "I have." Knuckles didn't understand what she was talking about. "What do you mean?" he asked. Julie didn't answer right away. She kept staring at the sky. Then she turned to Knuckles. "Do you really want to know?" "Um..if you don't mind telling me." Julie turned her head and looked back at the sky. She closed her eyes. "Alright...but it'll take a while..sit down if you want." Knuckles sat down on her left side and glanced over at her. She opened her eyes, sensing he was already there and looked back. Then her eyes darted to the left, and then to the right. Finally, she regained her focus and looked back at him. "Uh..I'm gonna haveta hold your hand..so you can see what I mean while I explain it." "Huh?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow, confused. "I can project my memories into an image inside your head..so you can actually see what I remember and such." "Oh, okay.." He reached over slowly and took her hand. "Okay, now you need ta close your eyes." Knuckles closed his eyes. "Julie," he opened one eye, "What if Robotnik shows up?" "We can take 'em. And besides, I doubt that he will." "Will this hurt?" "No..it shouldn't.." Julie closed her eyes. Knuckles kept his open for a second and then closed his too. And Julie started. "I was born with psychic powers, so my father, who was the mayor of our city, decided to train me to be able to use my powers effectively. Our city was called Fox City, and it was one in a three-city metropolis. The other two cities were Hedgehogville and Echidnatown. And you can probably figure out who lived in what city." "What was the name of the metropolis?" Knuckles interrupted. "Oh..I forgot ta mention that," Julie continued. "It was called Animalopolis. Now, naturally, the hedgehogs and foxes got along quite well, but neither one liked the echidnas for some reason. Not even my dad liked them. "My best friend's name was Rebecca. We got sick of everyone fighting, so me and Rebecca went over to Echidnatown. In the first alley we came to, we were jumped by this girl named Rachel-li. After we told her why we had came, she apologized. She said she had been raised to hate foxes and hedgehogs, but she trusted us. We quickly became friends, however, our parents wouldn't like the idea. We went and got our parents anyway and made them meet. They didn't really talk at first, but then my dad cracked a joke and got 'em all laughin'. My mom invited everyone over for dinner and they all left to go eat, leaving us by ourselves. "Me, Rachel, and Rebecca went walkin' 'round town and we came up to the highway. Rachel was the only one who knew the town, so me and Rebecca just followed her. There was a Super Burger nearby and Rachel and Rebecca were hungry, so they stopped ta get a burger an' fries. I left and walked around to explore. "I had only gone a little ways when I saw a human walkin' down the sidewalk. I had never really seen a human in our cities before, so out of curiosity, I followed him. He was a large man, carrying a relatively large box. I thought he mustuv been a CPD(City Postal Delivery) person, but I followed anyway. He kept walking until he came to the highway. It was empty because it was lunch break. He went to the middle of Hedgefox Highway and set the box down. He opened it and what he took out was a bomb. He did something to it, probably detonated it, and set it underneath one of the many bridges. "I took off, trying to find Rachel and Rebecca, but the town was unfamiliar to me. I had no idea when the bomb was gonna blow, so I just flew home. I told my parents, but they were still eating dinner so I got sent to my room for being 'rude'. I got mad and climbed out the window. I ran out of city limits, towards the desert. I was a good ways from the city when it exploded. I couldn't bear to look, and I could feel the heat from the explosion on my back, so I just kept running. "Soon I came across the oasis. Only one person, if you could call him that, lived there. His name was Coconut, and he was a squirrel. He had saw what had happened and was glad to know that I was alive. He lived of coconuts(the trees there were palms). "I stayed there until the next day. I left to go back to Animalopolis to see if anyone had survived. When it came into view, the once prosperous city was in ruins. Nothing was left standing. But for some reason, I still went. I came across where my house used to be..I searched but didn't find anyone. I returned to the oasis and lived there for about two years. I left because I got sick of eating coconuts 24-7. So I wondered off into the desert. I walked for a few days and then got so tired I just collapsed. The last thing I remember seeing is some green a little ways to my right. "Then when I came to my senses again, I was on a bed, in a cozy- looking room. I looked around and saw someone standin in the doorway. He came in and started talkin to me. He introduced himself as Matt. He said he was the one that brought me in. I had fainted outside their garden. He promised he wouldn't hurt me. I trusted him, so I followed him into the kitchen, where his mom was. Her name was Mandy Dingo, but she went by Nana. They let me stay, so I did for a while. Later on, I felt that I had to leave..go somewhere..you know that feeling you get when you know something's wrong, but you don't know what?" *Knuckles nodded* "Well, I had that feeling..plus the feel for revenge against the man who destroyed my city. So I left after two years. Partways between his house and nowhere, I hit some kind of portal and I was warped to another world. Of course, I didn't know where I was, and I ran into this guy who supposedly didn't want me on his property. The last thing I remember is yelling at him for something cause next thing I knew, I was in some cage- thing. I had tried to morph a tiger, but it came out funny..like a tiger crossed with somethin else. The guy who I ran into was obviously waiting on me ta wake up 'cause he was leaning against the wall across from the cage. He introduced himself as Myotismon. He was tall, and had on a blue and yellow suit, with bat symbols on the shoulders. He had a long black cape that was red on the inside. He also had on this eye mask that was red. His sleeves slightly flared out and turned up, the inside being a light green. He had gray glove and black boots that had a bat on the right one, and a skull on the left. His hair was blonde, and he sorta looked like a vampire. His little bat partner thing was in there too, which was named DemiDevimon." "Why do they end in 'mon'?" "Because, I found this out later, I was in the Digimon world, and there, I guess all the Digimon's names ended in 'mon'. "Myotismon thought 'Julie' was a weird name for the thing that I was until I morphed out. Then he asked me to help him with a crisis that was going on. Seven humans and their Digimon friends were trying to take over his world." *Knuckles growls slightly* "He told me he'd let me out if I helped, so I agreed. He gave me my own Digimon partner, and his name was Gazimon. He had been working for some other Digimon named Etemon and left because he got killed or something. When he stood on his hind legs, he was almost up to my neck. He kinda looked like a purple cat, with three long, sharp claws. He also had a chain- like tail cuff near the end of his tail. "Myotismon said I could go anywhere I wanted in his castle-thingy. His tone was always the same, all the time so serious. But later, I guess when he got to know me better, he started loosening up. DemiDevimon said that until I showed up, he was always that way. I guess I sorta rubbed off on him, since I was always polite. "Later I found out, thanks to Gazimon, that Myotismon was actually the one trying to take over the Digiworld, not the humans. But it didn't matter to me, I still helped him. "Then, in the middle of one of our battles, I was suddenly warped again. I had been in a Digimon morph, but when I was warped, I was turned back into my fox form. The strange thing was that I had been put on the exact same spot that I had been warped to the Digital World. "So I continued my journey through the desert until I came to a sign that said 'Angel Island Ahead', so I kept goin' and came to the edge of a cliff. I didn't see anything until I looked up. Up in the sky was a giant floating island. I figured that it mustuv been Angel Island, so I morphed a bird and flew up. I landed on the edge and morphed out. I began to walk and came across another sign that said 'Station Square City Limits'. I was excited to have finally found some other people. I walked into the city to find a bunch of humans. I was disappointed, but it was okay. Then I walked around a bit and ran inta Sonic, Tails, then you. And you know the rest." Julie opened her eyes. Knuckles opened his too and glanced at her. She was looking at the night sky, with only a few stars and Mobius's two moons. Then she turned and smiled at Knuckles. Knuckles smiled back and let her hand go. He leaned over towards her and lightly kissed her, closing his eyes. Julie was a little surprised, but closed her eyes as well. Then Knuckles suddenly opened his eyes and backed off. "I...I'm sorry.." He looked away, blushing. Julie blinked, and swayed her tail. Why did I do that?! He thought, wincing. It's only the first day! And I've already shown her I like her...jeez! What am I thinking?! "It's..okay Knuckles.." He opened his eyes in shock and glanced up at her. "W-what?" "I said it's okay.." Knuckles turned back to her. "You..didn't mind? It was..just...a relfex..." Julie smiled. "Yeah...you're just..the first guy to do that..." "Heh..well you're the first girl I've ever kissed.."Knuckles relaxed a little. "Really?" Julie swayed her tail again. Knuckles nodded. "Yeah..I've never really..liked a girl before...there's never really been one 'round to like.." Julie smiled. Then she turned back and looked at the sky again. Knuckles sighed, releaved that Julie had said that, and leaned back, propping up on his elbows. He..he kissed me..Julie thought as she gazed at the few stars that were out. I would've never imagined...our first day meeting and I've already found someone who likes me..well..I can't say anything cause I like him too... As they sat in silence, lightning bugs flickered down below and the occasional cricket chirp or croak from a frog breaking the silence. "Well..it's gettin' late..we should go." Knuckles stood up and stretched. Julie stood up slowly, not saying anything. They walked over to the mine cart and Knuckles opened the door. Julie smiled and jumped in. Knuckles climbed in and closed the door, the cart beginning to go. They reached the other side and got out, starting to walk towards the cave that led to the Master Emerald's temple. They walked through the cave and over the bridge to the temple. When they got there, Knuckles walked up to where the Master Emerald's jagged bottom was. He pulled out the three pieces he had and set them down inside the bottom piece. They glowed for a minute and then reattached themselves to the emerald. "There..well, we've got the first ones." Knuckles walked over to the steps and sat down. Julie walked over and sat beside him. "Where do ya think the other pieces are?" Julie asked. "I have no Mobian idea.." They sat in silence for a while, just staring at the sky. She has an interesting past..Knuckles thought. It must be rough losing everyone you know...but she doesn't haveta worry anymore..she's got us... Julie gazed down at the ground, watching how the moonlight reflected off the blades. Should I have told him? I mean..it was kinda personal...yeah....he's my friend and he wanted to know..I'm not gonna tell anyone else though..it's gonna be our secret..besides...I trust Knuckles.. "Julie?" Knuckles interrupted her thoughts. "I won't tell Sonic or Tails what you told me tonight..or what happened.." Julie glanced over to him. He had a smile on his face. "Thanks..I was gonna ask you not to...I've never told anyone.." Knuckles nodded and looked back at the sky. Julie did the same and they sat there in darkness, the only light the faint glow from the remaining emeralds. After a while, Julie dozed off, leaned up against one of the poles. Knuckles was trying his best to stay awale. He drifted off somtimes, but was quickly awakened by a cricket. Finally, he fell asleep sitting up, and a few minutes later, Julie woke up. She stretched and rubbed her eyes, glancing at Knuckles. Seeing he was asleep, she morphed a tiger to protect them if necessary. It was almost daybreak and Julie was slowly falling asleep again when Sonic came running up to the temple. "Hey! What's up?" Julie jumped to her feet, teeth bared. "Whoa girl!" Sonic backed up. "It's just me!" Though half-asleep, she recognized the voice and sat down. "Sorry Sonic..You just....kinda scared me.." She yawned and flopped down. "Yeah..I noticed..so whatcha'll been up to?" "Nothin much..you?" "Nothing really..just the usual." Knuckles' arm twitched and he lifted his head. He saw Sonic, but not Julie. "Hey Sonic..wuz up?" He closed his eyes and stretched. "Nothin." Julie closed her eyes and began to morph out. "Whoa!" Knuckles jumped back, surprised from the glow. Then he realized it was Julie as the glow faded and sighed. "Sorry.." Julie giggled. She was about to continue but stopped when she heard a loud hum coming from the Red Mountains. They all turned to look as the Tornado appeared. "There's my ride!" Sonic said, walking over to the edge of the island. "Your ride?" Julie asked, glancing his way. "Yeah. Me an' Tails are gonna ride around ta see if we can find anymore Chaos Emeralds." Tails slowed the plane down enough to where Sonic could jump in. Sonic ran and jumped off the island, landing in the second cockpit. "See ya'll later!" Tails yelled as the Tornado sped up and disappeared into the morning sky. Julie walked over to the steps and sat down. Knuckles stood in the same spot, staring at the sky. Julie turned around. "So...what are we gonna do?" "Huh?" Knuckles looked at her. "What are we gonna do?" She repeated. "Oh.." He thought for a minute. "I guess we could go look for more Emerald pieces.." He walked over to the stairs. "Alright..we need to find more anyway." Julie stood back up. "We could go back to the jungle and look some more." "Okay." They walked down the steps, across the bridge, past the huge boulders and through the cave. They went past Ice Cap and by the train station. Then they got into the cart and traveled to the jungle. Knuckles hopped out of cart while Julie hovered out with her tail. "Okay.." Knuckles looked around. "You go that way and I'll go this way. We'll meet back up at the temple. That alright?" "Sure." Knuckles jumped and glided down to the jungle floor. Julie started her heli-tail and flew down, landing in the middle of a trail. She followed it until she came to a stream. Julie was about to cross it when she heard, "Ribbit!" She looked to her left and there was a green frog. The frog turned around and hopped away. Curious, Julie followed. The frog hopped downstream until they came to a little clearing. In the clearing, the stream still flowed, but close to the mountain side there was a bamboo bungalow next to a huge tree. It had a roof of leaves that were weaved together and held up by four wooden posts. It had a bed, rather big, made of weaved bamboo and branches. It also had a little bamboo table. On the table was a red Chaos Emerald. "An Emerald?" Julie ran up to the bungalow. By the stream, a big cat was fishing in front of it. He turned around, hearing Froggy, and saw Julie about to grab his Emerald. He stood up as fast as he could. "Wait! Don't take my lucky charm!" Julie stopped and towards where the sound was coming from. A big purple creature, looking kind of like a cat, came running up, his run being waddle-like. Every time he took a step, the ground shook slightly. Julie jumped off the stairs as the gigantic feline ran up the steps and grabbed the Emerald. "Go away! I don't want any trouble!" His voice was rather low, and dull sounding. "I won't cause you any trouble..you say that Emerald is your lucky charm?" "Yeah, and you're not taking it away!" He sounded kin of dull, and he probably was. "Okay, I won't take your lucky charm. My name's Julie. What's yours?" "Big." He relaxed a little. "This is Froggy." He pointed to the little green frog. "Oh..and you live here?" Big nodded and put down the Emerald. "Do you know who Robotnik is?" Julie asked. Big looked at her for a minute. "Who?" "Ro-bot-nik?" She said it slower this time. "Who is he?" "He's a bad man who will take your lucky charm. You better hide it." "Okay." Big picked up his Emerld and put it under his bed. Julie rolled her eyes. "You're gonna haveta hide it better than that.." Julie reached under the bed and grabbed the Emerald. "Where are you gonna put it?" Big asked. Julie looked around. Her eyes stopped on the big tree behind the hut. "Is that tree hollow?" She asked, turning to Big. "Hollow?" Julie started her heli-tail and flew up to the top of the tree. Sure enough, the leafless tree was hollow, about halfway down. Julie flew over above the top and dropped the Emerald. There was a splash, because the tree was half-way filled up with water. There..Julie flew down and landed by Froggy. "You put it in the tree?" Big asked. "Yeah. Robotnik won't be able to get it there." "Neither will I.." Big looked up at the tree. "Well, as long as you know where it is." Julie looked over at the jungle trail. "Sorry Big, but I have to go. I've gotta meet someone at the big temple." "The big what?" Big looked confused. "Nevermind..bye Big, Froggy. See you later." Julie started walking toward the trail. Froggy croaked a 'goodbye' and Julie made her way to the temple. She continued to follow the trail by the stream until she came to a two-way fork. One trail went straight and the other curved, so she couldn't tell where it went. Which way..She thought to herself as she looked around. As she stood there, Knuckles was walking down the path. "Wonder how Julie's doing?" He thought out loud as he came to the conjunction where Julie was. Speaking of Julie.. She was to his right, so he was coming up from the stream. "Hey Julie!" He walked up to her. "Hey Knuckles. Find any Emeralds yet? I haven't." "Yeah, I only found one though. It was stuck in a tree." "Talking about trees, I ran into this guy named Big back there. He lived in some kinda tree house. He had a Chaos Emerald, but he said it was his lucky charm, so I didn't take it. He had a little frog too, it's name was Froggy." "Cool! So what did he do with the Chaos Emerald?" "I stuck it in a tree so Robotnik won't find it." Julie pointed up to the tree. "Butchu can't get it either 'cause I promised Big." "Okay..I won't. Let's head on to the temple. Maybe we'll find some more Emerald pieces." Julie smiled and flicked her tail. They started walking down the trail, heading straight, towards the mystic temple.  
  
To be continued... 


End file.
